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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The fact I actually like both MLs enough given my experience with her books, I'll consider it a win. The FMC was refreshing enough and I did enjoy how cruel and cold she was. What do I have give for one plot where you don't have the FMC get whisked away by the enemy Ms Fields I'm just (sighs)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture
It was decent. A slow read for sure. It didn't really get my attention until 30% in. But then it interested me and I was invested enough to finish. I liked the ending overall. It's a bit of a love triangle, and she picks the right one.
dark
emotional
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was effing EPIC!!!
The world building was fantastic, and the story
was mind blowing. I haven't read a book by this
author that I didn't end up loving, but this one
knocked it out of the park. Not only did it consume
me, it's definitely my favorite of hers. I love that
she decided to write in this genre, because it gave
her readers the chance to see how talented she is
but also that she's an amazing storyteller.
She built a world and characters that you love, but also
some you love to hate.
Her heroine is a BAD*SS Queen
The world building was fantastic, and the story
was mind blowing. I haven't read a book by this
author that I didn't end up loving, but this one
knocked it out of the park. Not only did it consume
me, it's definitely my favorite of hers. I love that
she decided to write in this genre, because it gave
her readers the chance to see how talented she is
but also that she's an amazing storyteller.
She built a world and characters that you love, but also
some you love to hate.
Her heroine is a BAD*SS Queen
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I always feel like I stole something when I wind up reading a Kindle Unlimited book that I really enjoy – like there’s no way I should be reading something I love for “free.”
I did really enjoy this book, though it’s not without its faults. Bottom line is it’s a great story, with strong characters, lots of action, intrigue, and magic, and best of all, a healthy dose of smut.
I’ve read some other reviews here that mentioned how awful the characters are, particularly our MC Audra, but I think to assess her as such without seeing things through to the end is really unfair. She shows a great amount of growth, without compromising her ideals or her standing as a badass-type woman, which I appreciated to no end.
I should also mention right off the bat that while the whole Fae thing wasn’t as in your face here as it was with ACOTAR, the similarities is world structure (not plot, really) are pretty obvious. Audra isn’t the boring know-it-all that Feyre is, and I very much appreciate her biting nature and self-aware tendency towards awfulness, but the main triangle we see shares a lot in common with the whole Feyre/Rhys/Tamlin one.
Ella Fields pulled somewhat of an ACOTAR-esque Tamlin-style LI fakeout here with Raiden, but it wasn’t quite on that level because you know from the get-go that he betrayed her in some fashion, and I had suspicions that his “betrayal” would wind up being a betrayal by half-measures at some point. I suspected that she’d end up back with him at some point and that he wouldn’t wind up having betrayed her in quite the way she expected. All of that came to pass, incidentally, so it’s not like a huge shock to have it all revealed. You read enough stories in this vein and you can see pretty much anything coming from a mile away. Doesn’t mean it’s less enjoyable, but there’s very little that can shock any genre fan at this point, so you sort of just need to learn to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Even with the somewhat predictable nature of the relationship between our King and Queen, what I didn’t expect was someone like Zadicus to come creeping out of the shadows to steal the book right out from under everyone else. Oh Zadicus, Zad, let me extoll your many virtues – You are quite obviously the Rhysand of this book, but not nearly as much of a sanctimonious Marty Stu as Rhys is. You’re a filthy sweetheart and a cinnamon roll and I love you. You might have treated Audra a tad unfairly towards the end, but I forgive because you’re a perv with a heart (and a mysterious past) and I’m kind of a sucker for that.
Raiden doesn’t do the completely jarring 180 that Tamlin does, as I had pretty strong suspicions that he was not as bad as Audra thought he was in the beginning, but he’s still not the bestest. He’s somewhere in the middle, and I am not 100% sure where he stands, and I’m glad for that because books with easy relationships wind up being pretty boring when you think about it. I don’t want to read about bliss for 400 pages. I might want those 400 pages to end in bliss, but right up until the very end I’ll gladly take a healthy dose of conflict, and I think “A King So Cold” handles that pretty well.
Some things I had issues with:
-Why is this book called “A King So Cold”? Shouldn’t it at the very least be a Queen So Cold? Who’s the King? Raiden is the only one and he hardly winds up being the primary focus here so I’m not really sure what this is even referring to.
-The world building could be a little stronger. While I’m very thankful for the fact that there weren’t stupid amounts of infodumps going on just to explain how everything works, I felt that the structure was left so vague at times that I wasn’t quite sure what these people (Royals) were. That being said, as soon as the concept of the Fae were introduced, I almost immediately guessed that Royals weren’t quite what they thought themselves to be, which wound up being quite the nice surprise even if I did have an idea of what was coming.
-The action kind of jumped around a bit, and I definitely had the sense that Ella Fields didn’t always do the best job of describing what was taking place in the book, so sometimes I’d be reading thinking we were in one place, and then realize a paragraph or two later that the action had moved. I’m not sure if that was me maybe not paying enough attention (All that smutty Fae sex clouds my mind) or just her not doing a good enough job of letting the reader know what was happening. Caveat Emptor.
-As much as I enjoyed this book, I’m kind of bored with the Fae, or at least these types of Fae, tbh. Everything I enjoyed about this novel had absolutely nothing to do with the Fae, and I would have enjoyed it just as much had that aspect of the story never been introduced. In fact, I literally had no idea I was even reading about Fae until a good part of the way through the book. Why not general magic users or wizards or some shit like that? I kind of feel like, as much as I love it, horny sexy Fae has sort of been done to death at this point.
I’m very much looking forward to the sequel to this (if only for more smutty Zad stuff) which will thankfully be releasing in February so I won’t have to wait too long for it. This was a very fun read, and reading should be fun, so I’m not gonna sit here and pick it apart to the point where nobody wants to touch it. Read it, it’s cheap (or free with KU), it’s hot, Zad’s hot, Raiden is a hot asshole, and Audra is a bitch with a heart of gold that knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to tell people off or rip some dicks off where necessary.
I did really enjoy this book, though it’s not without its faults. Bottom line is it’s a great story, with strong characters, lots of action, intrigue, and magic, and best of all, a healthy dose of smut.
I’ve read some other reviews here that mentioned how awful the characters are, particularly our MC Audra, but I think to assess her as such without seeing things through to the end is really unfair. She shows a great amount of growth, without compromising her ideals or her standing as a badass-type woman, which I appreciated to no end.
I should also mention right off the bat that while the whole Fae thing wasn’t as in your face here as it was with ACOTAR, the similarities is world structure (not plot, really) are pretty obvious. Audra isn’t the boring know-it-all that Feyre is, and I very much appreciate her biting nature and self-aware tendency towards awfulness, but the main triangle we see shares a lot in common with the whole Feyre/Rhys/Tamlin one.
Ella Fields pulled somewhat of an ACOTAR-esque Tamlin-style LI fakeout here with Raiden, but it wasn’t quite on that level because you know from the get-go that he betrayed her in some fashion, and I had suspicions that his “betrayal” would wind up being a betrayal by half-measures at some point. I suspected that she’d end up back with him at some point and that he wouldn’t wind up having betrayed her in quite the way she expected. All of that came to pass, incidentally, so it’s not like a huge shock to have it all revealed. You read enough stories in this vein and you can see pretty much anything coming from a mile away. Doesn’t mean it’s less enjoyable, but there’s very little that can shock any genre fan at this point, so you sort of just need to learn to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Even with the somewhat predictable nature of the relationship between our King and Queen, what I didn’t expect was someone like Zadicus to come creeping out of the shadows to steal the book right out from under everyone else. Oh Zadicus, Zad, let me extoll your many virtues – You are quite obviously the Rhysand of this book, but not nearly as much of a sanctimonious Marty Stu as Rhys is. You’re a filthy sweetheart and a cinnamon roll and I love you. You might have treated Audra a tad unfairly towards the end, but I forgive because you’re a perv with a heart (and a mysterious past) and I’m kind of a sucker for that.
Raiden doesn’t do the completely jarring 180 that Tamlin does, as I had pretty strong suspicions that he was not as bad as Audra thought he was in the beginning, but he’s still not the bestest. He’s somewhere in the middle, and I am not 100% sure where he stands, and I’m glad for that because books with easy relationships wind up being pretty boring when you think about it. I don’t want to read about bliss for 400 pages. I might want those 400 pages to end in bliss, but right up until the very end I’ll gladly take a healthy dose of conflict, and I think “A King So Cold” handles that pretty well.
Some things I had issues with:
-Why is this book called “A King So Cold”? Shouldn’t it at the very least be a Queen So Cold? Who’s the King? Raiden is the only one and he hardly winds up being the primary focus here so I’m not really sure what this is even referring to.
-The world building could be a little stronger. While I’m very thankful for the fact that there weren’t stupid amounts of infodumps going on just to explain how everything works, I felt that the structure was left so vague at times that I wasn’t quite sure what these people (Royals) were. That being said, as soon as the concept of the Fae were introduced, I almost immediately guessed that Royals weren’t quite what they thought themselves to be, which wound up being quite the nice surprise even if I did have an idea of what was coming.
-The action kind of jumped around a bit, and I definitely had the sense that Ella Fields didn’t always do the best job of describing what was taking place in the book, so sometimes I’d be reading thinking we were in one place, and then realize a paragraph or two later that the action had moved. I’m not sure if that was me maybe not paying enough attention (All that smutty Fae sex clouds my mind) or just her not doing a good enough job of letting the reader know what was happening. Caveat Emptor.
-As much as I enjoyed this book, I’m kind of bored with the Fae, or at least these types of Fae, tbh. Everything I enjoyed about this novel had absolutely nothing to do with the Fae, and I would have enjoyed it just as much had that aspect of the story never been introduced. In fact, I literally had no idea I was even reading about Fae until a good part of the way through the book. Why not general magic users or wizards or some shit like that? I kind of feel like, as much as I love it, horny sexy Fae has sort of been done to death at this point.
I’m very much looking forward to the sequel to this (if only for more smutty Zad stuff) which will thankfully be releasing in February so I won’t have to wait too long for it. This was a very fun read, and reading should be fun, so I’m not gonna sit here and pick it apart to the point where nobody wants to touch it. Read it, it’s cheap (or free with KU), it’s hot, Zad’s hot, Raiden is a hot asshole, and Audra is a bitch with a heart of gold that knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to tell people off or rip some dicks off where necessary.
Ok story, 4 starts for general entertainment value. Story could have much better flow and less complexity to get the same point across
I’m usually a sucker for this brand of garbage but this was just utterly boring